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FIFTEEN
BLACK ROCK FALLS
Wolfe pointed to the X-rays. “You can see by the fractures in the forearms and fingers on the right hand that this woman made an effort to defend herself on the day she died. However, the bruises all over are in different stages of healing. The ligature marks would indicate the killer restrained her previously and on the day of her death.” His phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Bobby Kalo, the FBI IT whiz kid. He glanced at the others. “Just give me a moment. I need to take this. “What have you got for me, Bobby?”
“I’ve found Kane and Jenna. They’re heading toward the airport at Fort Lauderdale. I’m sure they’ll contact you soon.”
The tension in Wolfe’s shoulders relaxed and he smiled broadly. He’d sort out the security problem another time and once Kane and Jenna were safely home. “That’s great. Thanks for letting me know.” He disconnected, and looked at the others. “Kalo has located Kane and Jenna. They’re safe.”
“Thank God.” Jo pushed both hands through her hair and let out a long sigh. “Where are they?”
Wolfe leaned against the counter. “They’re heading for a Florida airport. That’s all I know for now. No doubt we’ll hear from them soon.”
“Getting back to these ligature marks.” Carter peered at the body of Jane Doe One and lifted a blond eyebrow in question. “So, you’re saying that the killer has been messing with these women for some time?”
Wolfe turned back to the X-rays. He indicated to the fractures in the phalanges and metacarpals on each hand. “You can see some of these fractures are partially healed. This would indicate beatings over a prolonged time. Bruising goes through various stages of healing and you can see from the colors ranging from red, purple to brown that some of these bruises were inflicted antemortem.”
“You’re saying this guy enjoys hurting women?” Rio rubbed the back of his neck. “The women are supposedly from out of town. This means we’re looking for someone who has a place to keep women locked up without detection. It must be remote or people would hear what he’s doing.” He scanned the faces around the room. “Any ideas?”
Carter gave him a look of incredulity. “You’re the one who lives here. Why are you asking me?”
Suddenly missing Kane and Jenna’s professionalism, Wolfe let out a long sigh. “How about we concentrate on the autopsies and try and make some headway in the case.” He looked at Rio. “Talk to Rowley. He’s a local and might have some idea of where to look. If you recall, we had a killer that used the caves at the base of Bear Peak to hole up in, but there are thousands of them up there. That mountain has tunnels running all over. Add to the fact it’s difficult to drag an unwilling woman through the forest, maybe we should be avoiding the obvious and think outside the box.”
“Yeah. That’s what Jenna would do.” Jo walked along the screen array peering at the X-rays and photographs of the deceased. “I figure this guy has a big setup somewhere close to town. He knows the area and the location of the CCTV cameras. He is way too comfortable and has an expanded comfort zone. I think we should look deeper. We’re missing something here.”
“We’ll need to expand our investigation to a wider area.” Rio scratched his head. “If these women aren’t missing from local areas, he has to be collecting them from other counties. There must be more reports of similar crimes in other states or counties apart from the ones Carter heard about. This isn’t this killer’s first dance.”
Wolfe gave Rio a long look. “He’s using formaldehyde to preserve the bodies so he can move them. I can’t think of any other reason why he would preserve them. From the tissue samples I’ve taken, one of these women, Jane Doe Two, was murdered almost a month ago. I’ll be able to make a more definite determination over the next few days.”
“Unless he likes to visit them post-mortem.” Jo grimaced. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“There sure are some freaky people out there.” Carter shook his head. “But you can usually recognize them by the stink of rotting flesh on their clothes.”
“Yeah.” Rio looked disgusted. “I’ve read about them.”
“This brings me to another important question we need to discuss.” Jo narrowed her gaze at Wolfe. “Can you determine if the women were raped once or repeatedly during their time of capture?”
“Both had been sexually active prior to their deaths.” Wolfe moved to the screen array and ran the file forward to display a set of images. “I did consider this as a possibility and conducted a colposcopy on both victims. As you can see from the images on the screen taken during my examination using a colposcope, the tears on both victims in the region of the labia minora and posterior vagina would indicate rape. I used toluidine blue to highlight areas of injury. This is a highly sensitive device that gives us a clear picture of even the most subtle injuries.” He indicated to the pictures on the screen. “From the evidence on these images, I made my determination that the damage occurred during the final assaults on the victims, and I agree with Jo the killer used rape as the final degradation.”
“He uses rape as a weapon?” Rio let out a long breath and shook his head. “As if killing them wasn’t good enough.”
“It’s often used as a means of control.” Jo’s brows crinkled into a frown. “He likes to dominate women. Beating them to death is him punishing them. This is what satisfies him. He kills them because he’s tired of them. Once they’ve given up, they’re no use to him anymore.”
“Okay.” Carter scratched his cheek thoughtfully. “So, what we’ve got here is a guy with access to a secluded property in Black Rock Falls, who moves around, maybe from state to state, or someone who takes frequent trips.” He looked around the room. “I figure he must be someone who has returned recently. Or has been in jail. There has to be a reason for the interval between murders. These are possibilities we must consider going forward.”
“I took everything you mentioned into consideration at the get-go.” Rio frowned at him. “There was only one recent release from county in the last six months. He wasn’t a person of interest. We need to look farther afield if we’re ever going to make headway in this case.”
“Then get your minds around this problem.” Wolfe indicated to the images on the screen. “As you can see, the skewers on both victims follow the same pattern along the spine, which would suggest they hold significance to the killer. Have any of you seen anything like this before?”
“Yeah.” Carter moved closer to the screen and peered at the pictures. “I’ve seen a similar use of skewers, but the perpetrator in that case was using them to create a halo around his victims’ heads.” He glanced at Jo. “Do you recall the Michelangelo Killer? He dressed up his victims like angels?”
“Yeah, I do recall the case.” Jo shrugged. “He’s locked away in the state pen on death row. There’s no way this is the same person.” She drummed her fingers on the counter. “The skewers mean something to the killer. Symbolism is a very big part of this killer’s MO. Both the skewers and the mask represent something in his past. We’ll need to discover why he’s using two different symbols to convey his hate for women.”
Wolfe took in the worried faces. It seemed very unusual that this team of highly skilled people were stymied. “I figure you are overthinking this, so break it down. You have two symbols. We know the mask likely means he considers the women faceless and nameless. Doing this is relevant to him and significant as it’s his MO. The skewers are something else. They represent another aspect of his psyche. Jo, you deal with symbolism all the time. This can’t be something you haven’t seen before?”
“I haven’t seen skewers used in the back of the victim like this before, no. It could be very simple like the halo example or complicated as in a twisted memory from childhood that’s only relevant to the killer.” Jo lifted her hands up in the air and dropped them at her sides. “I sure wish Kane and Jenna were here to discuss this with us. Kane always has some case or another to refer to and Jenna thinks outside the box and always has a ton of angles to consider. Without any strong evidence or suspects, we’re chasing our tails like amateurs.”
“You can say that again.” Carter raised both eyebrows. “Just how long does it take to fly from Florida? The sooner they get back home the better.”
